Sunday, March 7, 2010

What is your favorite memory of a lazy Sunday morning? When I was a kid every other Sunday my mom would make her special anda-curry or paatvadyachi bhaji (Marathi curry delicacy - I'll post sometime). It was a reward for working hard over the past week. My favorite memory of a lazy Sunday was sitting in front of TV watching Chhayageet (a songs video show which used to air at 1pm on Sunday) while smacking on the awesome curry with rice and lime wedges!

Now ofcourse all the fun is in starting my own lazy Sunday morning traditions! The idea is that you get up late, drool over coffee for another hour, then stroll to the fridge and make an otherwise not so quick cooking dish as a treat for the craziness of the week left behind. Today I had some salmon fish fillets and some olives that I picked up on sale yesterday. Some sort of moroccan fish stew sprang to my mind. A little bit of Googling and I settled on adapting this wonderful recipe. The stew was perfect over some whole wheat couscous.. except may be just one thing was missing: no Chhayageet TV show :)

Anatomy of a Moroccon stew: As I understand (and I am no expert in Moroccon cooking) the stews start with chermoula which is a marinade made out of some fresh herbs (cilantro, parsley), some dried spices (cumin, coriander) and seasonings like olive oil and lemon juice. The meat is then marinated with chermoula for a couple of hours and then cooked over stovetop with tomatoes, potatoes, onions, peppers and some Moroccan specialties such as green and black pitted olives, preserved lemons and some dried fruits. The stew has the sweet element coming from the dried fruits, sour element from tomatoes, olives and lemon juice and heat from peppers making it a perfectly balanced stew for a lazy anyday!

Clean and pat dry a salmon fillet. Rub the fillet with the marinade. Cover with a plastic wrap and let it marinate in fridge for an hour or two.

Bake the fish:

Pre-heat oven to 400F. Remove fish from the fridge and bake for 25mins or so until almost cooked. Be sure to not overcook the fish as it will cook a bit more with the stew.

Prepare the stew:

1/2 medium onion

3 cloves of garlic

1/2 red pepper

1/2C fire roasted diced tomatoes (or two fresh ones)

2 small potatoes

1/2C pitted green/black olives

handful of dried apricots - chopped

1Tbsp tomato paste

1.5C water

juice of 1lime

Slice onions, red peppers, potatoes and mince some garlic. Heat olive oil in a thick bottom pan on medium heat. Add onions and garlic, saute for a few minutes until onions are tender. Add sliced potatoes and cook for a few more minutes.

Remove cooked fish from the oven, chop it into smaller pieces and add it to the stew. Cover and cook for 10more minutes until the fish is well done (flakes easily).

Remove from heat. Add lime juice and adjust the seasonings. Serve over some whole wheat couscous.

Vegetarian alternative:

Instead of fish add cooked/canned chickpeas with the chermoula. Skip the baking step and instead cook the stew with chickpeas for 20mins or so. Sayantani has a delicious Moroccan chickpea dish here which was my inspiration for suggesting chickpeas!

Another option I thought of was to add some marinated paneer instead of fish. Not very authentic Moroccan but I am sure it would taste just awesome!

Notes:

1. Tomato paste is the main thickener of this stew; so do not skip it.

2. Olives and apricots are what gives it the Moroccan twist; so if possible, I strongly suggest not skipping both of these ingredients.

3. Smoked paprika and fire roasted tomatoes both give this smoky taste that I so adore. You can substitute both of these with regular paprika/chili powder and fresh tomatoes, but the smokiness won't be there.

Indo, so true! there are so many TV channels and shows that really there is no special to look forward to. Olives was an acquired taste for me too.. I still can't get to the greek large black olives (too strong for me) but I like the small black and green ones.

Nostalgia, it is so interesting to read about everyone's Sunday routines. MY best Sundays are the ones which are laziest.. :D

Amita, I buy whole wheat couscous from Trader Joe's. Dont know which brand =p, but I think they only have one.. its very good, infact the only whole wheat couscous that I really like! Try it sometimes.

Hi PJ, love the flavours going in the stew and surely will try the veg version. It's high time I try my hand on Moroccan cuisine. When u mention paneer, i really thought it as a good alternative to fish and can be baked well.I love patvaadicha rassa and thanks for reminding it's been ages I made that too..looking forward to read ur version of it.

Growing up, Sunday was non-veg day at my parents' home (and I did eat meat back then), so it was either Kolhapuri rassa or biryani for a big heavy lunch. That was the only day off (Saturdays were half-day school), and the only day with any TV programming that I wanted to watch, like He- Man :D

Oh you brought back so many memories of childhood. though in Santiniketan we had wednesday off so not much TV programmes but Sundays were special with Baba being at home. am drroling at that stew. would definitely try this as we love moroccan cuisine. bookmarked.

As a child, my favorite memory of a lazy sunday morning was when my mom or dad tells me not go to sunday church class ;)..hahhaha....ofcourse food is the top priority always, and mine was a pure central travancore catholic family, where sunday means Beef fry, Yucca and Rice ;)Nice click and fish stew looks so delicious...

Hello, nice Moroccan dish but i would love the veg version only. :) We can swap something in the place of fish. right? Hey..i want something marathi dish now. Post some yummy marathi dish pls!! I know you are all-rounder cook and can cook the recipes from all over the world. :) :)

Hello, nice Moroccan dish but i would love the veg version only. :) We can swap something in the place of fish. right? Hey..i want something marathi dish now. Post some yummy marathi dish pls!! I know you are all-rounder cook and can cook the recipes from all over the world. :) :)

Oh PJ,this is an amazingly rocking post....u have everything written about the stew and i love the detailed foodie knowledge u always line up and what a delightful recipe with splendid pics to boost ...i love a lazy as well as active sunday and urs sounds way way good....have jus darted u am email and am so glad to hear from ya.....

First timer here from Deepas ! Just browsing through your posts, you have got nice flare of writing. You might see me often around now :)

Btw about Sunday Afternoon even I recollect 12 noon chayageet and heavy fish or meat lunch @ my place. Me and my BRO used to wait desperately till we get the aromatic stuffs from the kitchen :D.. you just brought those memories back !

Kanchan, welcome to my blog! I am glad you stopped by. Aha, I think you are right, Chhayageet might be 12'0 clock afterall. Like Indo says above, with this multiple channels we have for TV now, any lure of watching a particular program is so not there!

SE, thanks! It was so wonderful of Deepa to have me as a guest blogger! I am so glad you liked the fish strew.

Yasmeen, oh, if you love salmon I am sure you will love Moroccan version.. I prefer all my salmon done this way, but ofcourse it takes a bit more time than regular.

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This is a web catalog of the recipes that I have tried and tasted in my kitchen. While these recipes and instructions have worked well for me, please use all the information and the recipes from Ginger and Garlic at your own risk.